Blue Jays will play in Buffalo again in June

The Toronto Blue Jays are returning to their home away from home, Buffalo, New York, starting in June. And this time, they’ll have a limited number of fans in attendance.

Forced from Canada by that government’s coronavirus travel restrictions, the Blue Jays posted a note on their Twitter account on Wednesday saying: “Buffalo, we’re BACK! We’ll see you June 1st.” The words were over a picture of Buffalo’s downtown Sahlen Field, the regular home of the Blue Jays’ Triple-A farm team.

Toronto played its first two homestands at its spring training ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, and will play its third there from May 14-24. But the Blue Jays did not want to remain in Florida for the hotter, more humid portion of the year.

The Blue Jays return to Buffalo with a homestand that includes games against Miami on June 1-2 and Houston from June 4-6. They’ll travel to Buffalo after a five-game trip that ends in Cleveland.

Toronto last played at 49,000-capacity Rogers Centre on Sept. 29, 2019, an 8-3 win over Tampa Bay.

The Blue Jays played home games during the shortened 2020 season in Buffalo and were 17-9 at Sahlen Field. They finished 3228 to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and were swept in losing twice at eventual AL champion Tampa Bay in the wild-card round.